Thomas R. Frieden, the commissioner of the
New York City Dept. of Health discusses the structure of the U.S. Health Care System and interventions that can be taken to prevent important health issues like tobacco use and obesity.

Thomas R. Frieden

Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, has served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since January 2002.
Dr. Frieden has worked as an epidemiologist, administrator, teacher, researcher, clinician, and community organizer. His top priorities are to strengthen systems to accurately monitor the health of New Yorkers and to use this information to work with communities to improve their health.
A graduate of Oberlin College, Dr. Frieden received degrees in Medicine and Public Health from Columbia University. He completed specialty training in Internal Medicine at Columbia and subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases at Yale University.